GAPS update

Hello everyone! I checked out everyone’s blogs, and it’s nice to know the other GAPS mamas are keeping afloat. 🙂 I survived single parenthood quite well while hubby was away. Things did get hairy after too many days without dairy and a slip of a pizza order, but my patience level and energy were fantastic for the first five days. In an effort to save you from reading a blog post the length of War and Peace, I am going to bullet point what I think is notable from the last week and a half and then start with normal blog posts tomorrow.

Katie had a major growth spurt and grew 1/2 an inch in less than 5 days.

This growth spurt caused her to cry and whine that she was hungry ALL THE TIME, even during eating. There were record amounts of meat consumed.

Today, I just started HCl with pepsin for both of us; so far, we’ve had 1 small pinch with breakfast with no side effects. I’ll keep updating on that also. I hope it helps Katie to eat less meat and me to eat more. She seems to have major tummy troubles with raw foods, so that’s the main reason I ordered them. I now think it might be a cellulose issue, since she seems to get quite bad with her probiotic lately. We’re now both taking mine as of today – Katie has done well with it the few times she has tried it -.

With warm weather here, I can’t seem to eat any meat and have to choke it down when I do. Milk, freshly pressed juices, and raw veggies are much easier for my system right now. Eggs are okay in small amounts.

Katie fell asleep to me singing and put herself back to sleep without assistance after getting up to pee int he middle of the night. [We normally have to sing while bouncing her on an exercise ball to get her to sleep, and shake her butt back and forth while she’s laying down to get her back to sleep.] We’re back to bouncing now with her growth spurt over. She has way too much energy to settle down.

I figured out the little red spots on my hand are dyshidrotic eczema. I only get them when I eat nuts.

I made ‘hot dogs’ for Katie. I will share the source and recipe in another post.

I cheated with pizza & breadsticks twice in deperation of something palatable to eat (would not have if I had milk but was trying to give it up while hubby was gone) and chocolate from Italy.

The chocolate gave me major side effects from the caffeine and sugar, and I felt like I had a major hangover the next day. They are banned from the house, since I binge.

My milk cravings must nutritional, since they never abated but got worse as the week went on. My mood also seriously deteriorated as I went longer without it.

The full moon was awful on our moods and physical health.

The most amazing thing I’ve seen on this diet so far is Katie’s latest growth spurt. In addition to the 1/2 inch of growth, she’s starting to pack on weight in the last couple of days, her face and nostrils seem wider (look up Weston A. Price if you’re unfamiliar with his work), and her feet have changed. Her toes have always been a bit weird in that the second toes are higher (higher towards the ceiling not longer) than her other toes and those toes have also been growing longer than her big toes. As of last week that has reversed, and her big toes grew to surpass the second ones! She still has a bit of an indent where her second toes are a bit higher but that seems to be reversing also. I can’t even describe how thrilled I am at this sign of the positive changes we’ve made with this diet. If you are familiar with the traditional foods movement, you are probably familiar with the effects of malnutrition. If not, I’ll go over it in a future post since it will be a lengthy one. I highly recommend Dr. Price’s book Nutrition and Physical Degeneration.

6 thoughts on “GAPS update”

How encouraging that she grew 1/2 an inch! I am so hoping this happens to my son whom is scary small. I have the same problem with chocolate binging, usually only pre-menstrual, but there are nutritive benefits! (I try to make excuses! ha). But I do notice a decrease in overall energy when I allow myself chocolate. Its cool to see we share the same love for WAPF! Were you doing raw milk? I have been staying away from dairy, but I get it for the hubby.

Janelle, I think this diet is a great way to focus us on making sure all of the foods our little munchkins eat are nutrient dense, especially with a WAPF background. It's hard to remember that every bite that goes in their mouth makes a difference. I'm sure when it's time for some growth spurts, he will surprise you! Since he's gaining weight right now, he may be like Katie and freak you out that he's getting skinny when he's just getting taller. :)Dorothy, you are such a great cheerleader! I get so chagrined and down when I go off the diet. You just reminded me that I only slid a small bit and did not FAIL. Thanks lady!

Medical Disclaimer: The information contained in this blog is not intended as a substitute for medical advice. Please consult a physician in matters relating to serious illness and particularly with respect to any symptoms that may require diagnosis or medical attention.

Medications – You should work closely with your physician to adjust medications as your body heals. Many of you will be able to say goodbye to “maintenance” medication forever but some will not.